Dayton Dining

The Dublin Pub Celebrates 15th Anniversary

May 13, 2013 By Dayton Most Metro Leave a Comment

Wednesday is a day for celebrating! We are celebrating 15 years at the Dublin Pub!! In honor of being open for 15 years we are going to feature a couple of throwback menu items such as Prime Rib and Guinness BBQ Ribs! We will also have throwback prices which means perfect pints for $3.50!!!!! See you Wednesday friends! Thanks for a great 15 years! Sláinte

Big Brews And Blues Fundraiser for Dayton Diabetes

May 13, 2013 By Lisa Grigsby 1 Comment

Diabetes Dayton will host an evening of craft beer, good food & live blues music this Friday, May 17th at Carillon Park. This 4th annual Big Brews and Blues helps generate funds that allow any child living with diabetes to attend their special camp. Camp for these kids means making friends with other children living with diabetes, becoming more independent, receiving the best medical care 24/7, and enjoying all the fun camp can offer.

For a $30 ticket guests will get commemorative tasting glass, be able to enjoy up to 20 beer samples and enjoy the live blues music from 4 bands. Non-drinkers are welcome to attend for $15, payable at the entrance to the event. In honor of American Craft Beer Week the Dayton DRAFT club will be on hand bringing you the craft of homebrewing up close and personal throughout the evening of Big Brews and Blues.

2013 Music Talent

5 pm Joe and Jack Waters
6 pm Them Bones – featured in video below
7 pm Johnny Mack and The Heavyweights
8 pm Big Joe Blues

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Special Tappings Inclue:

5:15pm Thirsty Dog: Cask conditioned Belgian Imperial Stout ABV:11%

5:35pm Jackie O’s Brewery: Mystic Mimosa

6:03pm Mt. Carmel Brewing Co.: Ardenne’s Belgian Quad ABV: 9.6%

6:45 pm Boston Beer Co.: Sam Adams Honey Queen Braggot ABV:7.5%

7:05 pm Yellow Springs Brewery: Bowerbird Belgian Strong Ale ABV:7.5%

Beers on tap will include:

Triple Digit Brewing Co.: Chickow! ABV: 10%

Listermann Brewing Co.: Nutcase Peanut Butter Ale ABV:6.9%

Ohio Brewing Co.: Maple Porter ABV: 6.2%

Rivertown Brewing Co.: Unit 6 ABV:5.5%

Barley’s Brewing Co.: Blood Thirst Wheat ABV: 5.0%

Dayton Beer Co.: Barrel Aged Old RIver Stout ABV:7.0%

ACE Premium Hard Ciders: Honey Apple Cider ABV: 5.0%

ACE Premium Hard Ciders: Joker Apple with Champaign Yeast Cider ABV: 6.9%

Weasel Boy Brewing Co.: Anastasia Russian Imperial Stout ABV:8.0%

Cellar Dwellar by Valley Vineyard: Shawsome ABV:8.0%

Great Lakes Brewing Co.: Dortmunder Gold ABV: 5.8%

Great Lakes Brewing Co.: Rally Drum ABV: 5.8%

Leinenkugel: Big Eddy IPA ABV: 8.9%

Erie Brewing Co.: Derailed Black Cherry Ale ABV: 5.0%

Moerlein: ESB Elixe

Redhook Ale Brewery: Audible Ale ABV: 4.7%

Shocktop: Honeycrisp Apple Wheat ABV: 5.8%

Widmer Brothers Brewing Co.: Alchemy Ale ABV:5.8%

Goose Island Beer Co.: Summertime Kolsch ABV: 4.7%

Widmer Brothers Brewing Co.: Citra Blonde Ale ABV: 4.3%

Elevator Brewing Co.: Big Vic Imperial Mogabi Wheat Ale ABV: 8.0%

Finch’s Beer Co.: Threadless IPA ABV: 6.0%

Anderson Valley Brewing Co.: Wild Turkey Boubon Barrel Stout ABV: 5.8%

Anchor Brewing Co.:Zymaster Series No. 3:Flying Cloud San Francisco Stout ABV:7.4%

Kona Brewing Co.: Koko Brown ABV: 5.5%

Brew Kettle Taproom: The 4 C’s ABV: 6.0%

Triton Brewing Co.: 4 Barrel Brown ABV: 5.2%

Bell’s Brewery, Inc.: Oberon ABV: 5.8%

Southern Tier Brewing Co.: 2X Steam ABV: 8.0%

Founders Brewing Co.: All Day IPA ABV: 4.7%

Troegs Brewing Co.: Nugget Nectar ABV: 7.5%

Thirsty Dog Brewing Co.: Whippet Wheat ABV: 5.2%

Brewery Ommegang: Witte ABV: 5.2%

Uinta Brewing Co.: Hop Notch ABV: 7.3%

21st Ammendment Brewery: Hell or High Watermelon Wheat ABV: 4.9%

Atwater Brewery: Vanilla Java Porter ABV: 5.5%

Fat Head’s Brewery: Head Hunter ABV: 7.0%

Hoppin’ Frog Brewery: Boris the Crusher ABV: 9.4%

Revolution Brewing: Anti Hero IPA ABV: 6.5%

Two Brothers Brewing Co.: French Country Ale ABV: 5.9%

Hinterland Brewing: Saison ABV: 6.3%

Stone Brewing Co.: Old Gaurdian ABV:11.6%

Buckin’ Donkey Grille: The Menu Will Kick Your …

May 9, 2013 By Dayton937 1 Comment

Beef on Weck – Old Style Taste

The Food Adventure Crew have been tackling the only Polish-Irish Pittsburgh Bar cuisine in Dayton for months now. Today, we share these experiences with you.

Our weekly Food Adventure installment brings us to The Buckin’ Donkey Grille at 3808 Wilmington Pike in Kettering. Sure, being Cincinnati Bengals fans, we have to stomach the Steelers posters, but the food is worth it.

Our friend, owner Sean Mckown, has worked in various restaurants, but honed his skills cooking for his buddies. Over the years he has tweaked recipes and invented menu items that are remarkable comfort food. Sean is a laid-back guy with a great sense of humor. You can often catch him mingling with patrons as he is in and out of the kitchen. Sean is our kind of guy, making food that his friends love. He experiments in the kitchen, and has perfected his dishes over the years. This is yet another locally owned spot, where almost everything is made from scratch.

Sit back, saddle up as we take you for a ride on the Buckin’ Donkey menu highlights.

Here’s the Skinny:

Sean McKown, Pittsburgh Native and owner of Buckin’ Donkey Grille

— Inventive, homemade menu with one-of-a-kind items or Chef Sean’s twists on standard favorites.

— One section of their menu is Breakfast, served all day

— Locally owned, sports bar atmosphere

— Great drink specials: In May, bottles of Corona are only $2. Last month, Red Stripe beers were only 2 bucks.

— The large outdoor patio will get some good use this summer.

Must Eats:

— The Jumbalaya – spicy and addicting, Sean has been making this masterpiece in a cup for over 15 years.

Banana Peppers Stuffed with Chorizo and Cheese

— Old Style ChicagoWeck – A favorite of most of our friends. Slow cooked Italian beef, marinated in au jus. The weck bun makes the sandwich along with a dash of horseradish. You want authentic, you got it. Get your kimmelweck on. Stop slobbering and order one.

— The Pork Belly Burger. – This is a favorite! It is a burger of 80/20 beef, topped with cheese and strips of pork belly. Inventive and delicious.

— Stuffed Banana Peppers – Stuffed with chorizo and cheese, these long sliced banana peppers melt in your mouth. Warning: Your taste buds aren’t going to believe this. Talk about original, try these on for size.

Frosted Flake French Toast – They serve breakfast all day

— Frosted Flake French Toast – It is what it says. French toast, coated with Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes cereal. So good and rich, that Tony the Tiger himself would be proud. It is a savory breakfast item that immediately makes you feel like you are at home.

— The Pierogie Burger – A burger topped with a couple of pierogies. Big Ragu loves these so much, it makes him want to dance to polka music.

— Shrimp Po’ Boy – We recommend the grilled shrimp version. It is an amazing take on this Louisiana style sandwich.

— Homemade Desserts – Not many restaurants have the chef’s mom making the pies from scratch. Buckin’ Donkey Grille does. There is no set dessert menu, so whatever she made that day, is what’s available. Don’t worry though, they are all good. You have to try the peanut butter pie, strawberry shortcake and the cheesecake. We would run topless across lanes of traffic on Wilmington Pike to get a taste of these. Another incredible unique favorite is their homemade walnut pie. We are willing to bet that nobody else in Dayton serves walnut pie. If someone else does, we will let you kick us in the walnuts.

Homemade Walnut Pie

There are so many great flavors on this menu, it is hard to pick just a few favorites. Other honorable mention specialties that we recommend include The Reuben Sandwich and The Cuban Sandwich. The grilled wings are great and so are the hand breaded deep fried pickle slices. Also, the thin sliced onion rings are so good that we have been known to arm wrestle over the last forkful. If you are feeling sassy, try the Porky Pig Burger, a pork/beef mix burger served on a doughnut! It was definitely a unique tasting sandwich.

Also, don’t forget that Buckin’ Donkey Grille has $1 hot dogs and $2 chili dogs during every Cincinnati Reds Game! They also feature live music on Saturday nights and trivia on Wednesday nights.

There really is no secret to this place. The formula is great food at fair prices. The servers are also very personable and attentive. Sean McKown did it right. Many Daytonians are grateful that he has brought a sampling of Pittsburgh to the Gem City. Make sure you visit this seemingly typical sports bar, with the uncommon fare. We know why they named this place the Buckin’ Donkey Grille, because the menu is kickin’ ass.

Browse through all of our original food photos from Buckin’ Donkey Grille in the album below. Drool bibs not included.

Who else is ‘buckin the trends’ and settin’ the trends? … Food Adventures! Ride us and ‘like’ us on Facebook by clicking HERE !

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Cheers To National Moscato Day On May 9

May 9, 2013 By Lisa Grigsby 1 Comment

America’s youth have a sweet tooth, and it’s driving the sales of Moscato. Just over the last three years, sales of moscato have exploded into something of a sugary sweet bomb. In 2011, the Wall Street Journal reports, sales grew 78%; in 2012, moscato overtook sauvignon blanc as the second most-popular white varietal (chardonnay still holding onto its number one spot), with sales of 2.8 million, reports the Napa Valley Register. And sales of moscato grew again by 25 percent in 2012. “In the U.S., moscato’s popularity has exploded over the past three years, with sales growing faster than any other wine varietal,” Stephanie Gallo, the vice president of marketing for Gallo Family Vineyard.

“Previously people thought drinking sophisticated meant drinking dry wine,” says Wendy Nyberg, senior director of marketing for Sutter Home, part of Trinchero Family Estate. “The younger consumer doesn’t care about that – they like sweet things, and they drink what they like.”

one of the zillion imoscato pics on instagram

That might be overstating it, but Moscato’s rise is certainly hinged on a younger drinker – and on its sweet side. While sweet, Moscato is not a dessert wine. The low alcohol content, around 7 to 9 percent, and blossomy aromas certainly add to its appeal, as does it’s friendly price tag of $8 to $15. And even though the grape – native to Northern Italy – has been around for ages, Moscato’s newfound popularity is being driven by California vineyards, and here ability to target the milenials. And it’s working when there’s an Instagram hashtag for it. If you browse the current 259,037 photos on Instagram, you’ll find everything from simple bottle shots (the more reserved photos) to 20-something girls posing with glasses, bottle shots, lots and lots of “selfies.”

America’s affinity for Moscato continues to make headlines as its light, aromatic style brings more and more people into wine. You know Moscato has infiltrated the culture when Campari released the first Moscato-based vodka on the market, a flavored vodka that taps into the stunning popularity of the sweet, fruity, aromatic wine which has been called “the new Cristal” for being peddled by hip hop artists like Nelly, Drake, Soulja Boy and Gucci Mane. The excitement around this wine varietal led Gallo Family Vineyards to establish May 9^th as National Moscato Day as a way to capture these important wine conversations and toast the varietal that has everyone talking.

“The legacy of my grandfather and great uncle, Ernest and Julio Gallo, is the importance of making quality and affordable wines that Americans want to enjoy during life’s everyday moments,” saidStephanie Gallo, Vice President of Marketing at E&J Gallo Winery and third generation Gallo family member. “For nearly 80 years we have been joining Americans at the table, so it’s exciting to see a particular wine style draw so many new people into the wine category. National Moscato Day was established to celebrate these newcomers and wine enthusiasts alike.”

Today, May 9th, Gallo Family Vineyards will be hosting the second annual National Moscato Day Twitter Party from 9:00pm to 10:00pm EDT . Throughout the party, participants will have the opportunity to share and gather hosting tips, food pairing suggestions and wine facts by joining the conversation using the hashtag #MoscatoDay on Twitter.

To lead the charge, Gallo Family Vineyards enlisted entertaining expert Robyn Moreno to provide easy entertaining tips guaranteed to make anyone’s National Moscato Day party a hit.

“Throwing a wine-themed party is a great way to spend time with your friends and families, and you don’t need much to make it a success,” says Moreno. “Here are ways to get started:

Mix It Up: Gallo Family Vineyards offers three delicious types of Moscato – White, Red, and Pink. If you want people to get talking about the wine, try setting up different stations around the room. Feature tasting notes if you really want to get the conversation going.
Not Your Ordinary Cheese Tray: Moscato pairs perfectly with cheese, such as Brie, Camembert, aged Parmesan and Pecorino Romano. Style up your cheese plate by making a slit in a wine cork and sliding in a card labeling the cheeses. The display is an easy and elegant way to let your guests know what they are eating.
Spice Not Stress: Moscato and spicy food are the perfect combination and serving Paella is a clever, chic way to feed a crowd. Plus, since this flavorful rice-based dish can be made with almost anything – grilled meats, seafood, or veggies – everyone will be able to enjoy it and you won’t be tasked with making multiple meals.
Decorating Couldn’t Be Easier: Create clever centerpieces from pretty items in your home. A beautiful tray can become a blossoming centerpiece when decorated with fresh fruit and a birdcage can become a glided candleholder with a pillar placed inside.
Don’t Let The Party End: To enjoy another night of great wine, pour the remaining Moscato into ice trays that you can use later in sparkling water for a updated take on a “white wine spritzer!”

So for every bottle of Moscato on the shelf of your local wine shop, a wine snob is turning up their nose at this sweet varietal being celebrated in rap video’s.

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Said one Napa Valley wine expert to the Wall Street Journal,”The moscato movement feels more like the wine-cooler movement today.” Sure, if you love wine coolers, you will probably also love moscato. Or, writes Willy Staley in New York magazine, “For wine snobs, moscato is the new white zin, the varietal used as a knowing punch line on Frasier and, more recently, as the tongue-in-cheek name of a highbrow-meets-lowbrow arts-and-food magazine. It’s a signifier for plonk at which the enlightened turn up their well-trained noses.” Even the New York Times’ Eric Pfanner has chimed in as a wine snob:

“While it is pleasing to see an underappreciated wine style get a deserved bit of attention, the response of the global wine trade to the moscato phenomenon has been less commendable. While moscato used to be made mostly in the hills around Asti [in Italy], sources proliferated as the industry scrambled to capitalize on the new interest. Suddenly there was moscato from California, from Australia, from Argentina, from South Africa — you name it. A lot of the new moscato tastes nothing like the original. Indeed, it tastes the way you might expect a sweet, slightly fizzy wine that’s low in alcohol — and usually cheap — to taste.”

Well then. Why the love-hate relationship?

Well, it’s definitely love for Gallo and other brands that decided to jump on board the moscato bandwagon — and they’re laughing all the way to the bank. “We’re seeing a new generation enjoying sweet wines outside of traditional occasions, particularly with millennials,” says Gallo. “They are taking a greater interest in wine than ever before, and moscato is at the forefront of why they’re choosing wine.” Gallo continues, “In the past, it was customary to pour moscato after dinner or with dessert. Now, we’re seeing a younger, more adventurous generation of wine drinkers who aren’t adhering to conventional wine traditions.”

So can we really hate on millennials for choosing a moscato? After all, we’re a generation that grew up on Coke and sugary sweet drinks, so it should be no surprise that our wine palates lean toward something sweet over something acidic or tannic. Tim Elliot writes on his blog Winecast that this isn’t that surprising that the wine market is meeting the demand: “A decade ago tankers of Australian shriaz with a slight addition of concentrate to add residual sugar weaned Americans off Coke and into wine. If you browse your local wine store or supermarket you will also notice more ‘sweet red’ blends on the shelf than ever. And I’ve seen a rise in sweet riesling lately as well.”

So love it or hate it, we wish you a happy Moscato Day!

Outdoor Food Season is Here!

May 8, 2013 By Dayton937 Leave a Comment

Zombie Dogz Dead Dixie

The overhead doors at 2^nd Street Market are up. Fresh air, sunshine and hungry people looking for a lively social scene mean it’s outdoor food season.

Warm weather fills the sidewalk seating along 5^th Street with bustle. Coffee shop denizens sit outside and watch people go by, crowds of Riverscape strollers appear, and downtown office workers don sunglasses to dash out for a precious lunch-hour escape. And they’re all interested in food.

You wouldn’t know it, but a guy like me who’s worked at the Savoy Hotel, in London, who’s even served a royal or two, is actually a great fan of street food. So it’s an exciting time for me to be back in Dayton with my family. Because the talent we’ve got here on the streets is terrific.

That means on top of our usual festival street fare—the wonderful ethnic treats you get exposed to as the restaurants and churches come out to the summer crowds—you can now avail your taste buds of food truck fare.

I’ve tried them all and have yet to decide on a favorite: Fressa Truck, G’s Cue BBQ, Go Cupcake, McNasty’s, Harvest Mobile Cuisine, Zombie Dogz, Ringo’s North Star Mobile Eatery, The Monchon “The Social Sandwich” and the Craig’s Pesto Hot Dogs (a cart).

The names alone tell you adventurous eating awaits. If you miss the Food Truck Rally on Friday, May 10^th, 5-10pm during Urban Nights, don’t worry, you’ll have more chances. Check out this list of Mobile Food Vendors that are serving up great eats on the street.

During my years as a chef and caterer, I’ve noticed something has fundamentally changed with people. They’ve come to appreciate fresh and healthy offerings, they’re much more adventurous, in search of variety and look for a whole experience around food.

Food attracts people, and people attract more people. I think that’s why the streets of downtown Dayton have gotten a little more populous in recent years. While I see food as a form of creativity and a way to please the senses—it’s also a meeting place, an adventure, a joy.

Enjoy the outdoor food season, if even it’s just sitting on your stoop with a glass of wine. I recommend a nice glass of St. Supéry Rosé. Cheers!

10?’s with Patrick Sartin, The Man in the Black Truck

May 7, 2013 By Lisa Grigsby 1 Comment

Chef Patrick inside his truck. Photo courtesy of Dolce Photography

Patrick Sartin started cooking at a young age in Dayton working in several local kitchens including The Country Club of the North, Rocky’s Pizza, and Kohler Catering, before attending the Culinary Institute of America, where he graduated in 2002. After graduation Sartin did a stint as the Head Chef at Chanterelles here in Dayton, before he achieved his goal of travel and work in as many different regions of the US as he could, gaining as much culinary knowledge as possible.

Patrick has worked in the industry across the United States from Colorado to Maine working with very talented culinarians including two ACF Certified Master Chefs. As a chef for the prestigious Ocean Properties LTD in Bar Harbor Maine for the last 7 years, Patrick assisted in opening and overseeing the daily operations in hotel kitchens and large catering facilities up and down the east coast. Sartin has extensive knowledge and experience executing large banquet functions, operating multiple outlets, and producing a wide variety of foods indigenous to the different regions and cultures of The United States. With his new mobile venture Harvest Mobile Cusine, a valuable tool for street vending, catering, and exposure of flavor, Patrick hopes to spread the love of cuisine he has gathered through his extensive travels and aims to show how important it is to get back to the simplicity of cooking, using local ingredients and simple time honored techniques. Patrick takes on DMM’s infamous 10 questions:

What is your favorite ingredient to cook with?

Fresh local ingredients are my passion. It may sound simple but I can’t wait for the local fruit and vegetables to become available. One of my favorites is the strawberry, there is simply nothing like a fresh local strawberry.

What ingredient do you dread? Every cell in my body is opposed to the idea of using frozen or canned ingredients.

What is your favorite dish to make? I live for the opportunity to enlighten people and expand palates; introducing someone to something new is a challenge I get excited about. I like getting meat eaters to try a vegetarian dish and right now I am having a lot of success doing that with my Falafel.

What is your favorite pig out food?
This is going to sound like I am making it up but the only thing I could say I really “pig out” on is salad. Even my four year old is a big salad eater, believe it or not.

What restaurant do you dine out in?
I am sure you’ve heard it before but for cooks, there isn’t much time to eat out. That being said I love to eat anywhere that features farm to table cuisine like Meadowlark. Other than that we always choose locally owned venues like Marrions Pizza over the corporate chains.

What is your best advice to home chefs?

Harvest Tacos – Wild caught northern Atlantic haddock, jicama slaw, citrus cream

My best advice is twofold, firstly keep it simple. Don’t over think your dish, and keep the seasonings straight forward. Secondly, look to your local bounty, focus on farm fresh produce and meat.

If you could invite any 4 guests to a dinner party who would they be and why?

My Grandmother Caroline: To thank her for showing me the ropes of cooking at a young age, and guiding me towards my passion for farm fresh ingredients;

My Mother: To share my accomplishments to the one person who has always provided that stable ground for me to stumble upon;

My wife/daughter: The two most important people in my life who I strive to nurture with every small step into the future;

Phish(the band): For providing the musical inspiration that continues to push me forward down the bumpy roads of life.

Who do you look up to in the industry and why?

I guess I most admire the two Certified Master Chefs I worked with. Dan Dumont has a breadth of knowledge and passion that is impressive and inspiring. I am driven to achieve a work ethic that I leaned from these chefs who have risen to the very limits of accreditation for our profession.

What do you do on day off?
We are a very outdoors oriented family. We love the Five Rivers MetroParks and often select a new one at random to explore on days off. I love hiking, biking cannoning; these parks are a major draw for Dayton.

Presidential picnic basket

Patrick with President Obama

The most interesting highlight of my career thus far was the time I spent working for Bar Harbor resorts and was hand selected by white house staff for an opportunity to cook for the first family. I was chosen to join a team of two other chefs who catered to the Obama’s when they visited the resorts. The most memorable times were spent preparing their picnic lunches. We prepared local meals for the sitting president and his family to enjoy in the park. The picnic basket was the size of a car trunk and was loaded with beautiful china and stemware.

For your chance to try a meal from the Harvest Mobile Cuisine Truck you can check his calendar to find a location near you. You can also hire him for catering for special events with customized menus to suit. The truck’s menu is constantly changing, but we can recommend the chicken tortilla soup and the tacos. You can aslo follow Harvest Mobile on Facebook

Here’s where you can the truck this week:

Veggie Pita – Roasted red pepper hummus, marinated and grilled seasonal vegetables, and local greens

TUESDAY
KETTERING 11:00-2:00pm
ACCO Brands, LLC. 4751 Hempstead Station Drive

BEAVERCREEK 3:00-8:00
KMart (Across from The Greene) 4480 Indian Ripple R

WEDNESDAY
DAYTON 11:00-2:00
LORD Corporation 4644 Wadsworth Drive

THURSDAY
BEAVERCREEK 11:00-2:00
Apple Valley Business Park 4021 Executive Drive
4021 Executive Drive

FRIDAY
DAYTON 11:00-2:00
Five Rivers Metro Parks 409 East Monument

URBAN NIGHTS FOOD TRUCK RALLY 5:00-10:00
East Monument St. Dayton

SATURDAY

Hill Family Farms Jumbo Wings – Thai barbecue sauce, roasted peanuts, and cilantro.

DAYTON NOON-10:00
Fifth Street Brewpub Open House 1600 East Fifth Street

SUNDAY 12:00-7:00
YELLOW SPRINGS
Village BP 4 Xenia Ave

Live From New York: Brian Van Flandern Trains at Salar

May 7, 2013 By Brian Petro Leave a Comment

Fresh new cocktails coming to the Oregon District!

It was in New York that an actor was working his way through school. The year was 2003; he had one more semester to go, and the bar he was working in was failing. He was no ordinary bartender. While working in theater and other pursuits, he had nearly two decades of bartending under his belt. Knowing he had one more semester to go, he agreed to take one more restaurant job in New York and work there until he was able to get “a real job”. The new restaurant was the brainchild of Chef Thomas Keller, who had already created the very successful French Laundry in California, and now wanted to expand it to New York. While working with the chef of Per Se to create the menu, and learning to pair wines with dishes, this bartender asked “Why can’t we use fresh ingredients and make great cocktails that pair with food?” This simple question lead to a rethinking of how food and cocktails can interact. He had to prove to the chef that, despite their higher alcohol content, you can create cocktails that went well with food.

After the initial terror and question of “What did I do?” subsided, experienced bartender Brian Van Flandern set out to prove his point. The quest included three distinct elements. The first was to make cocktails from fresh and local ingredients, something that had been spreading like a virus through the New York cocktail scene. The second was pairing great cocktails with great food, something he was sure could be done. The third, and this was the hardest sell for the consumer, was to lower the alcohol content so that the palate was not damaged by the liquor. He was looking through a list of the basic cocktails when he picked his battle: the gin and tonic. Gin was an element that he was familiar with, and how much more simple of a cocktail can you make than one with just two elements? As he dissected it, he started to learn about the history of the drink, really questioning how it was made. That led to Van Flandern making his own tonic water, importing powdered quinine from Brazil, well before craft and artisan tonics were in vogue. Combining his home made tonic water with a special gin from San Francisco, he created the Tonic and Gin Per Se. When renown New York Times Critic Frank Brunei gave his four star review of Per Se, he mentioned that cocktail by name. “And all of a sudden my bartending job became a career”, Van Flandern said with a smile and a laugh.

Three star Michelein Mixologist Brian Van Flandern educating the staff.

Brian Van Flandern, three star Michelin rated mixologist and world class cocktail educator and creator, met with me at Rue Dumaine to discuss all things cocktail. Two things strike you as you are talking with him: he is naturally very friendly and easy to chat with, and he is passionate about cocktails and how they fit into our current culture. He has a very impressive resume to stand on. He has cocktails in over forty countries, as well as a very thick book of places where he has shared his experience and passion. He is the author of two books, Vintage Cocktails, which is currently available and Craft Cocktails, which will be released by Assoline later this month. Like anyone who is passionate about what he does and where he is going, he is well versed in where his craft has been. “Prior to Prohibition in the United States, being a bartender was a respected craft, like a pharmacist or a cobbler. It was a trade that was passed down from father to son. These famous barmen were making their own tonics, their own tinctures, their own syrups.” He goes on, describing the flight of these great bartenders to Europe so they could keep making good cocktails. Europe became no better for cocktails than America, getting caught first in the worldwide Great Depression and then World War II. “By the time World War II was over, we had lost an entire generation of mixology and had lost the art of the cocktail.” He talks about the evolution of the cocktail, not only in terms of how it went from strong in the 50’s and 60’s to sweet in the 70’s and 80’s, but how people perceived it and how consumer demand influenced it.

It was not until the late 90’s that the cocktail started to edge back to where it had been before prohibition. “Dale DeGroff started to do critical thinking like a chef. He took a recipe from a woman who had won a cocktail competition in Florida, and made a cocktail called a Cosmopolitan. He used fresh ingredients and quality spirits, balanced it out, and he made an amazing Cosmopolitan that became so famous in New York that Sarah Jessica Parker mentioned it in her show ‘Sex and the City’. That cocktail became a global phenomenon. That was only the beginning. Now we are seeing the great mixologists are emulating the great chefs, working with global, fresh ingredients, their balancing the acids and sugars, and they are creating original flavor profiles that are aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and the palate.”

Class is in session for the future Salar mixologists.

Understanding where the cocktail has been helps Van Flanern see where it is going. Asking him about the next big cocktail trend, he feels that “we will never see a global trend like the Cosmopolitan again.” He sees bartending going in the same direction that the culinary world has been going; becoming more and more innovative, looking more to local and fresh ingredients to create their signature libations. He compared the growth of a bartender into a mixologist in the same way a cook evolves into a chef. Mixologists “innovate, they create, the do anything a bartender does, and more. They take it to the next level,” according to Van Flandern. Cocktails are no longer the big trend to look for, spirits are. People are embracing white whiskey, mescal, and pisco right now on the East coast, and it has been moving inwards through the country. The bigger spirits companies, like Diaego and Beam Global, are also helping to move trends, polling to see what people want to drink and encouraging the distilleries they own to develop spirits in that direction. This has allowed smaller, boutique, small batch distilleries to grow, fuelling a revolution in smaller craft spirits. “There is a lot of boutique, small batch, pot distilled distillations. We have seen a lot of boutique spirits are coming out where these guys are doing unique and innovative, cutting edge products in every major and minor spirit categories.”

Thanks to pioneers like Dale DeGroff, bartending has returned to the respectable trade it was before Prohibition chased bartenders to Europe, and their knowledge out of restaurants and bars. “It is an exciting time to be a bartender, globally”, offers Van Flandern, and he is right. Society’s palates have changed over the last two decades, and the explosion and expansion of craft liquors and spirits have given bartenders more options as far as ways to create cocktails. With the rising tide of skill and respect, the bar is no longer just a place for people to wait in a restaurant while their table is getting ready. It is an integrated part of the dining experience, with cocktails being paired with meals like wine traditionally has been and craft beers were a few years ago. “In my professional opinion, the long term trend in the next five years, great Chefs are going to supplant themselves in communities throughout the nation,” Van Flandern notes. He has seen this trend spreading, starting in places like London and New York, and in recent years moving to smaller cities like Cleveland and Columbus. And once the trend hits a city, it starts to spread to other lounges and restaurants.

Chef Margot Blondet, Executive Chef at Salar.

Mr. Van Flandern was recruited by Chef Margot Blondet to help give Salar, the restaurant she is creating, a globally inspired, signature cocktail menu. “We see great chefs like Chef Margot moving in to Dayton and settling down roots here, and then making commitments to great cuisine in Dayton, and making a similar commitment to her cocktail program.” That commitment extended to training the bar staff to make cocktails that had the same elements she was passionate about: fresh, innovative, exciting, locally sourced and the best in Dayton. Making great cocktails like that will also include training on the history of the spirits and the cocktails they would be making, so they understand them on a deeper level and can create new ones using the same philosophy. He assured me that all of their cocktails, while well crafted, will be delivered in a timely manner. If it is not exactly what you were looking for, the staff there will have no problems making it to your tastes. His customer first philosophy is one other thing that will be instilled into the bartenders he is training.

Salar is looking to open up in the next few weeks with not only fanfare, but with great ambition. Bringing a mixologist like Brian Van Flandern, with his years of experience and training, shows just how serious of an impact Chef/Owner Margot and General Manager Harry Trubounis are looking to make in the culinary landscape of Dayton. The stage is set in the Oregon District for a new star to rise.

Taco Loco: The Best Tasting Cinco de Mayo You Will Ever Have

May 2, 2013 By Dayton937 4 Comments

Beef Shoulder Taco, Squeeze that lime on it

Food Adventures Crew knows there are only a couple of truly authentic Mexican Restaurants in the Miami Valley, and we have found a favorite. It is a humble place called Taco Loco located at 5392 Burkhardt Road. It is clean, it is cheap, it is authentic. But most of all, it has some of the most delicious Mexican food we have ever eaten. We have some close friends from Mexico, and upon their recommendation we stopped in. The experts were right, every trip to Taco Loco is a new Food Adventure.

Why the name Taco Loco? The owners, a mom and pop duo from Mexico, had to renovate before they could open. They were fixing the old vacant building, putting in many hours painting, putting down flooring etc. The long days caused them to sometimes sleep in their van in the parking lot overnight, since they lived in Cincinnati. When a neighboring resident visited the construction she told the owners, “You are working too hard, and sleeping in your van, what are you CRAZY?” Since ‘Loco’ means crazy in Spanish, they decided the name fit.

Here’s the Skinny:
1) This place is very authentic, so don’t expect the typical queso sauces, cheese and tomatoes like you see on some Tex-Mex dishes at other Mexican restaurants.
2) The prices are low, so you can explore many types of food and have your own Food Adventure.
3) The staff is friendly, the place is a hole in the wall, the dining area is small, and the environment is clean.
4) You know the food is good, when most of the patrons in the dining area are people from Mexico.
5) Not only is the food delicious, but they have a variety of rare, non-alcoholic drinks made from scratch using fresh herbs and other ingredients.
6) Locally owned by Lola and her husband Octavio. It’s a true mom and pop establishment!

The Chicken Torta – Big and Delicious

Must Eats:

Horchata: Start off your meal with one of these milky beverage specialties. It literally tastes like rice pudding in a glass. We were blown away by the taste of this unique drink.

The Beef Shoulder Taco – Tasty meat on a corn tortilla. These are authentic style tacos, like they eat in Mexico City. We will tell you it is one on the best tacos on the planet. Ingredients are cilantro, onion and meat choice. No cheese, but you may order ‘Tacos Locos’ which means add tomatoes and sour cream.

The Chicken Torta – A sandwich that would give any sub shop a run for its money. Diced grilled chicken, and the perfect complimentary toppings on homemade telera (Mexican sandwich bread). An incredibly filling sandwich for $5 and one of The Big Ragu’s favorites.

Whole Fish – Do you want to kick it authentic old school? Then try this whole, fried tilapia on for size. You have to deal with a little bit of bones and the fish staring at you, but the taste is worth it. At the price of $7.50 this is a steal.

The Food Adventures Crew have eaten so many menu items in our trips to Taco Loco, that some deserve an honorable mention:

Whole Fish – Food Adventure on a Plate

The Large Quesadilla’s are fantastic. Filled with rice, beans, cheese and your choice of meat, this giant menu item will dwarf your plate.

Carne Asada, a skirt steak dish, is a specialty here. If authentic means anything, we noticed that besides us, a lot of Latinos were eating this dish too.
Have you eaten Sopes before? Sopes are made with a circular foundation fried masa dough (ground hominy) topped with refried beans, lettuce, and crumbled cheese. We think of it as an authentic taste version of a tostada. Ragu loves this unique menu item. Taco Loco serves similar menu items called Huaraches which are bigger, oval versions of Sopes. We love them as well, especially the thick base, which almost tastes like potato dough.

The Burritos are delicious. They come wrapped in foil and are so big, we can usually only eat half of them.

Want authentic fajitas? The steak ones here are fantastic, and the flavor of the grilled green peppers make the dish.

The Tamales were good too. Filled with shredded pork and topped with crumbled cheese, they are one of the few items covered with a queso sauce.

Enchiladas Verdes – Fresh Ingredients, Freshly made

A filling meal is the Enchiladas Verdes, stuffed with green chiles and your choice of meat, and covered in lettuce and avocado.

Besides our favorite Horchata, other specialty drinks include a “Tamarindo”, which is made with tamarind fruit. When Lola brought the fruit out to show us, we made a mustache with it. Yeah, that’s us. We take our own pictures, too.
We also drank a “Jamaica” drink (pronounced hamica). This beverage was a tea made with fresh hibiscus flowers, some of which Lola showed us as well. We told you this was a great place for a Food Adventure.

For dessert, we suggest the creamy, homemade Flan. For those of you not familiar with flan, think of an upside down, firmer version of creme brulee. Lola made us proud with this dessert!

Finally, we have to mention the complimentary table salsas. Served in two squirt bottles, one is a mild Verdes Salsa made with tomatillos. The other is a red chile salsa, made with chili peppers. Careful, the red one has a kick! Both of these salsas are made in house, and kick up any menu item. Experiment to your taste with a dash or a squirt on the free basket of extra thick corn tortilla chips.

With Cinco De Mayo coming up, it is good timing for you to try some really authentic Mexican fare at Taco Loco. Not many people know about this little secret, but now you know the scoop. Celebrate with good food and cheap prices. If you do not check out Taco Loco soon, then you my friend, are CRAZY !

Give us your take on TACO LOCO by commenting below. Make sure you browse through the photo album for some AMAZING food photos from this little known secret.

“Like” Food Adventures on Facebook by clicking HERE !

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13th Annual Soup Dressed Up Benefit

April 29, 2013 By Dayton Most Metro Leave a Comment

Stivers School for the Arts, located at 1313 E. Fifth Street, will host the 13th annual “Soup Dressed Up” fund-raising event, from 5-8 p.m. on Friday, May 3rd.

Student and staff at Stivers have created hundreds of bowls for you to choose from, each one unique and artistically prepared. Each guest may choose a handmade ceramic bowl and fill it with soup, bread and dessert generously donated from local restaurants, like Lucky’s CoCo’s, Elsa’s, Christopher’s Roost, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, EarthFare, Big Sky Bread, and Dorothy Lane Market.

Enjoy dinner, music by Gathering Mercury, bid in a silent auction, take a studio tour, and check out wheel throwing demonstrations and award-winning student artwork in the Fifth Street Gallery (located within the school).

Dayton Restaurants – Closed But Not Forgotten!

April 24, 2013 By Dayton937 88 Comments

Do you have any favorite food places that went out of business, and you still miss them to this day ? Yeah, we do too. This week, lifelong Daytonian, the Big Ragu, takes a trip down memory lane and talk about some restaurants we still mourn to this day. Eateries that used to shine in the Dayton area, which are now gone but not forgotten. Please join us in this of recollection of past Food Adventures. Feel free to add some places of your own, by commenting below.

Here is our list of restaurants that we wish had never closed. Our “Lost Food Gems of Dayton”

JED’S STEAK AND RIBS – Remember their salad bar? Sure it had croutons that tasted like crayons, but their steak burger and ‘make your own sundae bar’ were great childhood memories and huge innovations at the time. There were many Jed’s around the Dayton area, one was located on 725 in Centerville and is now a Goodwill store. We cannot find any photos or trace of this place online, can you?

SHUCKIN’ SHACK – One of our all-time favorite places was on North Main St. in Dayton. They would bring steamed clams out in golf ball baskets. At the raw bar you could sit and eat raw oysters and clams, and throw your shells into a trough. Who could forget their massive peel and eat shrimp, or fried smelts? This was the only place in Dayton that made you fell like you were in a wharf type restaurant in Florida.

THE PEERLESS MILL– The Miamisburg Restaurant with the old fashioned, old school menu. Inside it was like a mixture of Thanksgiving and Christmas everyday. We recall the incredible decor and churning wheel waterfall. This restaurant was warm and inviting, with a trickling water wheel in the lobby. The food was fantastic, and the service was always exceptional. It was a great place for family celebrations.

KEENG WHA – This Chinese restaurant used to be on the corner of Woodman and Dorothy Lane. They served Ragu’s favorite Chinese dish of all time: “Princess Prawns.” A popular place in the 80’s until the chef left, and it was all downhill until it closed in the mid 90’s.

BILL KNAPPS – The kids meal was filled with animal names like the “tiger” or the “elephant.” The best au gratin potatoes ever were served here in a tiny crock pot with browned cheese on top. Ragu loved the clam strips dinner and their signature chocolate cake. On Tuesdays is was a full meal deal where every entree came with salad, soup and dessert. INSANE ! There was a Bill Knapps on 48 near Loop Rd. in Centerville, one by the Dayton Mall, and another near what is now The Greene.

GIRVE’S BROWN DERBY– As kids, we felt like kings in this place. They had the largest salad bar in town and you could even order a kiddie cocktail. Ragu loved the kids menu fish dinner. Adults seemed to love the “Gus’ Steak” which came out with a wooden stake saying medium, or rare with on onion ring on top. There was a bar inside and even lobster tail dinners flowed freely. We felt the Brown Derby “jumped the shark” when it moved from Bigger Rd to the 725 location by the Dayton Mall. Big mistake, we really miss this food gem.

Woody’s Grocery Store in West Carrollton

WOODY’S GROCERY – We might say the bakery and seafood department was the best part of this West Carrollton icon. Also, we loved the deli with shaved Corned Beef and Swiss on hard rolls with poppy seeds on top. We remember a cashier named Don Baker who had hair like Elvis that never changed for years. Noone could forget the plaid dresses and bonnets worn by some of the female workers.

ELDER BEERMAN RESTAURANT – Who doesn’t love a place where you could get breakfast with Santa and the Easter bunny? Located upstairs in the Centerville store on State Route 48, our memories are also of the Friday night buffet. This was a place where the waitresses were “real” waitresses and they had the same staff for decades.

BURGER CHEF- To this day, we crave the Big Chef sandwich and their “works” bar where you could load up your burger with toppings! Remember that their regular hamburgers were stuffed into clear wrapping pouches and the steam marks would be on the plastic wrap? Bring back Burger Chef !!

CHICKEN LOUIE’S – A 24 hour chicken wing place? What a great idea ! This was a fixture on North Main Street in Dayton for over 40 years. Ragu would risk life and limb by ordering through the bullet proof glass at dusk. The related “Lou’s Broaster Hut on 3^rd st had a special place in our heart.

RAX ROAST BEEF – We loved the salad bar, which hilariously offered nacho cheese next to the pudding. The menu had a star, the “BBC” (the beef bacon and cheddar) which proves the theory that bacon makes everything better. But Rax lovers know that the cheese sauce made those sandwiches. We frequented the 725 store that is now a Tim Horton’s

ROCKY ROCOCO’S PIZZA– Chunks of roma tomatoes on their pizzas, made for a unique tasting pizza that was full of flavor.

JOE BISSETT’S GRUB STEAK– The killer menu item was the Princess Steak and a salad with blue cheese crumbles on top. We also rocked the “kiddie cocktail” on North Main St, Dayton. You may recall our article on the closing of The Grub steak HERE.

Lums – where hot dogs ruled

COZYMEL’S – Great place for happy hours with margaritas swirling in machines above the bars. You got lots of food at a great price here. This sorely missed place was located on 725 near McEwen Rd. in Centerville and became a Smokey Bones which is also now closed.

FARRELL’S – Across from Tri-County Mall in Northern Cincinnati, this place had a ‘sundae on a stretcher.’ The staff would sing happy birthday to customers on kazoos.

LUM’S – An obscure town favorite. They had hot dogs cooked in beer. Lum’s was located where Marion’s Pizza is now, in Town and Country shopping center.

PEASANT STOCK – Who could forget the ‘Peasant salad.’ Ragu loved the atmosphere at the restaurant in the Town and Country Shopping Center. Chef David Glynn served some great food out of this establishment.

We miss Thirsty Dog Brewery!

THIRSTY DOG – A great microbrewery restaurant on the corner of Alex Bell Rd and 48 in Centerville that served homemade chips in dog bowls. Ragu loved the Raspberry Light Beer, and the burgers and fish dinners were fantastic too.

HUNAN GOURMET – A long gone gem that was on 48 near Whipp Rd. We loved this place, especially their dry braised shrimp and sizzling rice soup. Some of their entrees were second to none. The building was razed about 8 years ago to build a coffee shop.

NOBLE ROMAN’S – We miss the real Noble Roman’s, not the stuff they are serving at the ‘new Noble Romans’ restaurants. The old restaurants were completely different. We miss the hand tossed pizza in the window, monster pizza, sicililan pizza and the hand rolled breadsticks with nacho cheese.

MARK PI’s CHINA GATE – The fried rice was addicting at this restaurant that was located upstairs in Town and Country shopping center. A great atmosphere for special get togethers, the decor on the glass is still there today, even though they closed in the 80’s.

Sambo’s was like a weird, kids version of Denny’s

ARTHUR TREACHER’S FISH & CHIPS – It was fried fish, so Ragu could live here. The Jersey Mikes on 48 in Centerville is where one of the Arthur Treacher’s used to be. We hear that some of these still exist in other states. Dear Fast Food Gods, Bring them back to Dayton ASAP, and don’t forget the vinegar.

SAMBO’S – They featured pancakes served with boysenberry syrup. This place was located at 48 near Loop Rd in Centerville until it closed in the early 80’s. It was known for their cheap prices and controversial menu caricatures. It was a weird, kid version of Denny’s on LSD. But you couldn’t deny, they had great breakfast food.

FOUR’S COMPANY – After the Arthur Treacher’s closed on 48 near Whipp Rd in Centerville, this short lived place served up giant beer battered onion rings. They were so full of beer you almost got buzzed by eating a few.

Dominic’s – A Dayton Original like us

TOTENKO – This place on the corner of 725 and 741 near the Dayton Mall was like a 70′s verison of PF Changs. We learned to use chopsticks here while wearing “toughskin” pants. A great restaurant until it closed because a food critic found roaches on her plate (TRUE STORY). That critic was Ann Heller, writing one of her first reviews for the Dayton Daily News/Journal Herald. This place turned into a Chi Chi’s which has since gone out of business too.

D’AMICO and MANZAS – An Italian eatery that was a mom and pop establishment. Incredible spaghetti dishes highlighted a top notch pasta menu. This spot is now Savona Restaurant.

DOMINIC’S – The iconic location on South Main Street in Dayton whose manicotti was incredible. The real attraction here was the house salad dressing with so much garlic flavor that you breathed fire for 2 days afterward. Ask any Daytonian who was around in the 70’s/80’s, they knew the only place to go where strong garlic breath was excused.

GROUND ROUND– Throw your peanut shells on the floor. Ragu loved their all you can eat Friday night fish fry. Remember the scale at the Wilmington Pike site where the cost of a kid’s dinner was a penny for each pound they weighed?

BAJA FRESH – Do you still crave their fish tacos like we do? The now defunct Dorothy Lane and Kettering Blvd location claimed to not have refrigerators, because they served everything fresh. We were sad to see this short-lived restaurant go.

PHIL AND JERRY’S FOOD-A-RAMA – Legendary Centerville grocery that had annual anniversary parties where a hot dog and a coke were around 20 cents. In business for over 30 years, they had a great seafood section.

Matchbook from Westward Ho on Brown Street

JOE’S IS A FISH HOUSE – This seafood spot on Loop Rd and State Rt 48 offered a one of a kind Sunday brunch that would knock your socks off. It featured smelts and steamed mussels. The restaurant was only open a couple of years, but it made an impact on us in the early 80’s.

WESTWARD HO – South Main Street cafeteria style restaurant that had drink glasses as big as your head. The food was good, the patrons were old, yet this was still a hoppin’ place. We used to visit the magic store across the street called the “Magic Hat,” after eating.

PO’ FOLKS – Fried food all over the menu, made this one of Ragu’s faves. The fried clams and fried okra were so good. The one we frequented was on the corner of Wilmington Pike and Dorothy Lane.

D’Lites – The first ‘Healthy Fast Food’

FAZIO’S GOLDMAN ONTARIO’s DISCOUNT FOOD STORES – This was the best place to shop with bellbottom pants in the 70’s for groceries. Good deals and wide collars were the norm at this place!

D’LITES- The first place ever to offer healthy fast food! We weren’t sure how healthy it was, but Ragu loved their burgers and smoothies at the location of 48 and Whipp Rd. Another short lived place, that we feel had great food.

CHMIELS GROCERY STORE – Now a Big Lots store in Centerville, this place had some incredible pastries. Their bakery was almost as good as Woody’s.

Kettering Village Inn – closed but not forgotten

KETTERING VILLAGE INN – A mom and pop Italian eatery known for no frills and good food. This spot is now an “OinkadoodleMoo” restaurant on the corner of Stroop Rd and 48 . KVI had great pizza and pasta dishes. This one is really missed.

ANTONIO’s – An Italian restaurant once owned by the DiPasquale Family. When Villanova’s Basketball team would come to town in the 1980’s, legendary coach Rollie Massimino would always eat here. They had incredible ravioli dishes. Their marinara sauce was out of this world. Sweeney’s Seafood House is now located where Antonio’s operated.

KING COLE RESTAURANT – One of the most elegant dining places in Dayton at the bottom of the Kettering Tower. Known for gourmet steaks and seafood, this was a hot spot in the 70’s and 80’s.

What places do you still think about? Casa Lupita? Charley’s Crab? Tequila Willie’s? Let us know any and all of them by commenting below! Check out the photo album below for even more restaurants that are “Closed but Not Forgotten.”

Please visit Food Adventures on Facebook. Check back every Thursday for a new “Food Adventure” article on DAYTON MOSTMETRO.COM

What restaurants do you miss? WHO DID WE LEAVE OUT? Please comment below !

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Your Guide to Living Gluten-Free in Dayton – 2013 Edition

April 24, 2013 By Tiffany Shaw-Diaz 7 Comments

Does Shredded Wheat leave your stomach…well, shredded? Chances are you are in good company with the millions of Americans who have celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that hinders one from properly digesting gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye).

While the words “autoimmune disorder” seem intimidating, treatment for celiac disease is actually rather simple: just adhere to a gluten-free diet. Considering the burgeoning number of gluten-free food manufacturers, people who have celiac disease have more options than ever including gluten-free interpretations of pizza, bread, pasta, beer, and countless other items.

Below is a guide for local gluten-free (or gluten-free friendly) restaurants, bakeries, and support groups, along with grocery stores that sell a plethora of gluten-free items, making your expedition into this specialty diet easy as “GF” pie.

Restaurants

Sinfully Gluten-Free: Dayton’s only 100% dedicated gluten-free restaurant that serves pizzas, sandwiches, quiche, chicken wings, and dessert items.

Olive, an Urban Dive: A localvore favorite. The owners of the establishment welcome patrons with food sensitivities. Upon request, they will even craft their sandwiches with the much-loved Udi’s gluten-free bread for a nominal charge.

The Green Nature Cafe: Located in Clayton, The Green Nature Cafe is Dayton’s latest organic hotspot. They offer a wide spectrum of raw, vegan, and gluten-free selections.

Lucky’s Taproom & Eatery: A hip joint in the Oregon District serving up fine craft beers, soup, salads, and sandwiches. They have many gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan options.

P.F. Chang’s: One of the first chain restaurants to provide a gluten-free menu. They offer numerous Asian-fusion dishes on their impressive gluten-free menu.

The Rusty Bucket: A midwest chain with a stronghold in Ohio, they serve Americana fare. They are known for their “gluten-free friendly” menu, which even has a list of gluten-free alcoholic drinks.

Butter Cafe: Socially informed and delectable. You can order one of their sandwiches with gluten-free bread or have gluten-free toast with your breakfast order.

Local Organic Broccoli Rabe, Gluten Free Pasta Salad! from The Chef Case

The Chef Case: Located in the 2nd Street Market, The Chef Case offers conscious cuisine with a focus on local, healthy dishes. They serve individuals who follow a variety of special diets including vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and casein-free.

Rue Dumaine: American-meets-French cuisine from expert chef, Anne Kearney. They are gluten-free aware and happy to assist people with special dietary needs.

El Meson: A mainstay of West Carrollton, this upscale restaurant specializes in Spanish and Latin American food. Many of the dishes are naturally gluten-free, and the staff is gluten-free conscious.

Uno’s: Conveniently located across from the Schuster Center, Uno’s has a gluten-free menu that includes pizzas, burgers, and beers.

The Melting Pot: An elegant fondue chain located in Centerville, they have a three-course, gluten-free menu. They even have several gluten-free cocktails from which to choose.

Bonefish Grill: Well-known for their seafood and fish dishes, they have an extensive gluten-free menu. You can find them at the Dayton Mall.

Keep in mind that there are copious other chain restaurants and local eateries that cater to gluten-free patrons, so this is only a partial list. If you dine in a mixed-kitchen, you can minimize your chance of cross-contamination by dining during off-hours (giving the staff time to honor your requests), speaking with management ahead of time about their measures to prevent cross-contamination, and ordering directly from a gluten-free menu instead of requesting custom-made dishes. Additionally, it is recommended to purchase Triumph Dining’s gluten-free dining cards, which come in 10 languages and give tips for safely dining in a variety of world cuisines.

Gluten-Free Bakeries

Tina’s Sweet Treats: Many of her cookies and muffins can be found at Dorothy Lane Market, but you can also place an order by phone. Tina also bakes cakes for all occasions along with the ever-so-hip cake pops.

Sonny Marie’s: While they primarily serve the Cincinnati market, Sonny Marie’s is slowly working its way upstream, as their products can be found in Health Foods Unlimited in Centerville. They are best-known for their Sonny Tarts, which are a gluten-free and dairy-free version of the iconic PopTart.

AllerEnergy: Bringing a twist to the gluten-free market (literally and figuratively), this Centerville-based company makes allergen-free and gluten-free soft pretzels, marshmallows, and energy bars. You can find their products at Dorothy Lane Market, across the United States, and even Canada.

Ella Bella Cookies: One of Dayton’s newest home bakeries, Ella Bella Cookies sells muffins, banana nut bread, lemon bars, whoopie pies, cookies, and other tasty treats. You can call or email Ella Bella with your orders.

Moondance: Based in Cincinnati, you can find products by this award-winning, gluten-free bakery in more than 20 states and 40 Ohio cities
. Make sure to try their individual-serving size cheesecakes and brownies.

Eban Bakery: While they are located in Columbus, Eban Bakery has expanded into the Cincinnati and Dayton health food markets. Well-known for their breads and cookies, you can find their offerings at all three Dorothy Lane Market locations.

Support Groups

DLM Support Group

A diagnoses of celiac disease can be a radical lifestyle change, especially in terms of how you adjust your grocery shopping, cooking, and dining. To help you navigate the initially murky waters of living gluten-free, there are several support groups located within Dayton and the surrounding communities that can offer guidance, classes, and lectures for successfully integrating the gluten-free diet into your daily routine.

Cincinnati Celiac Support Group

Gluten-Intolerance Group of Central Ohio (The Gluten-Free Gang)

DLM Gluten-Free Food Lovers’ Club

Shopping

Now more than ever grocery stores strive to accommodate to their gluten-free patrons. Several large chains, including Kroger’s, Wal-Mart, and Meijer’s, even have gluten-free sections and/or stickers to denote gluten-free products. Below is a list of local grocery stores and health food stores that have a higher percentage of gluten-free product listings (and a few of them even have gluten-free guides).

South Dayton area: Dorothy Lane Market (three locations in south Dayton), Trader Joe’s (Kettering), Health Foods Unlimited (Miami Township), Olympia Health Food Center (Kettering), and Earth Fare (Centerville).

North Dayton area: Healthy Alternative (two locations), Natural Food Plus (Dayton), Nutra Foods (Huber Heights), Dayton Nutra Foods (Trotwood), Starflower Natural Foods (Yellow Springs), and To Your Health (Eaton).

Additional Resources

Celiac disease has only recently gained exposure within popular culture, so new information about this condition is always being disseminated. With that in mind, staying abreast of the latest news and research is imperative and can change (usually for the better) your experience of this diet. For more information, make sure to visit the Celiac Disease Foundation or The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness.

Another Food Truck Hits the Dayton Streets

April 24, 2013 By Lisa Grigsby 3 Comments

Dayton’s newest food truck will hit the street this Thursday serving “the perfect combination of the familiar and the offbeat.” Ringo’s North Star Mobile Eatery will feature favorites like gourmet burgers, quesadillas, and pizza, as well as unique and unusual items like apple-cranberry brie fritters and deep fried asparagus. Their menu will change daily, and co-owner Joy Ring, who describes herself as chief helper to her proprietor husband Dave, explains,
“the feeling that we’re going for with the truck is that of being on a road trip and discovering some cool little place along the way that you remember forever. Our menu will vary, but we’ll always have pizza by the slice from our stone-hearth oven, and will most often feature a “road trip burger” based on various cities we’ve enjoyed visiting, like the Albuquerque burger topped with green chiles, or the Minneapolis “Juicy Lucy” with cheese nestled inside the burger.

Henry David Thoreau Quesidilla

Because we’re also avid readers, we have a line of literary quesadillas (there’s the offbeat part) like the Henry David Thoreau with mushrooms, leeks, and goat cheese, or the Larry McMurtry with chicken, cheddar jack cheese, and “Texas caviar” salsa featuring black-eyed peas, multi-colored peppers, onions, and cilantro. Our goal is that each experience will be a new adventure, like finding a new favorite place while traveling that becomes the highlight of your trip – that special combination of comfort and discovery, a little vacation in the middle of even the most ordinary of days.”

The intend to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner on the street, at your workplace, at private parties and festivals, too. If you’d like to request the truck for an event feel free to give them a call or text at 937.474.4944 and be sure tot follow them at twitter.com/ringosnorthstar for menu and locations updates.

Here’s where you can catch them this week:

Brie fritters stuffed with apple and cranberry

Thursday, April 25, 11-1:30: Our Dayton metro area debut!

Bing Design
126 Center College St.
Yellow Springs, Ohio

Saturday, April 27 5-10 pm: Great local food, great local beer!

The Dayton Beer Company
912 E. Dorothy Lane
Kettering, Ohio

And, yes—they accept credit and debit cards!

Local Food Movement To Benefit From Community Kitchen

April 19, 2013 By Lisa Grigsby Leave a Comment

First logo of Miami Valley Grown

There has been a local food movement in Dayton for years. In June 2007, Montgomery County Commissioner Dan Foley asked OSU Extension to lead an initiative to help connect local food growers and producers with local buyers. I was brought into this group as a part of my work with the local restaurant association. Meeting at the 2nd Street Market, our group eventually grew to about 25 or so members, including local farmers, bee keepers, educators, city and county workers, teachers and students who all were united in the belief that educating our community as to the benefits of buying locally produced foods and goods, would breed success for area growers, consumers, the economy and the environment.

Evolved MVG logo

The group eventually became Miami Valley Grown, with a mission to to connect local growers with local buyers. We held seminars and workshops and a mass-media campaign to expand awareness of the benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption, local foods, urban gardening and related topics. We even hosted a local food week, where restaurants featured meals highlighting ingredients from Miami Valley producers. As we worked with the local farmers, community groups and budding food businesses, we kept coming across a need for a facility that would allow farmers to reap profits from value-added food processing and consumers to have a facility to learn how to stretch the use of local products through the season by learning canning techniques.

Community kitchens offer specialty food processors, farmers, and caterers a relatively inexpensive place to license food processing activities. Kitchen clients are charged only for the time that they use the facility. They benefit from the technical knowledge of others using the kitchen, particularly those with extensive food processing, marketing, and business experience. These kitchens can also support the local economy. “Community kitchens have been built to boost local job creation, diversify the local economy, and transfer ideas and technology from universities or companies,” says researcher Kaelyn Stiles, who works with the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems in Wisconsin.

Our group took field trips to the Center for Innovative Food in Toledo and the ACEnet facility in Athens, successful models for developing local food systems and business incubation—both with shared use kitchens and impressive track records.

We knew that a community kitchen could thrive in the Dayton region, but a facility of our own continued to elude us. We explored local sites and were even generously offered a restaurant space from an Ohio chain, but could never figure out the financial blueprint to support and sustain such an endeavor. While our volunteer group was passionate, we lacked the bandwidth, the leadership and the experience to take the idea further. We became inactive, yet the movement never really died.

After all this time, I still get a call or email every month asking if I know of a kitchen for rent, be it local entrepreneurs, girl scout groups or caterers. And now I have some great news to tell them. Tonia and Joe Fish have established Synergy Incubators, a non-profit food business incubator with a shared food processing facility supported by programs to encourage the successful growth of food businesses. It will include an urban educational farm component for area schools and Dayton residents of all ages.

I couldn’t be more thrilled. Meanwhile Tonia and Joe are being swept up in a wave of grass roots support that, as always, makes me proud to be a part of this community. The momentum behind Synergy Kitchen feels like a high speed train, according to Tonia, with all the pieces falling quickly into place. It will soon be ready to help launch successful food businesses, educate the populace and make our region a destination for innovative and ethnic food and dining experiences.

Those of us who’ve been long-time studious advocates for a healthier Miami Valley know that Synergy Incubators will have a positive economic impact as well as a personal one. Producers will have higher incomes as demand rises. More producers will shift production or join the marketplace. Transportation costs will be lowered. Consumers will gain knowledge of healthy eating which can help lower disease and obesity rates. It looks like we’re set to become a healthier, happier community.

To keep up with the progress of Synergy Incubators, please like their Facebook Page.

Explore The Science Behind Some Of Your Favorite Spirited Concoctions!

April 18, 2013 By Dayton Most Metro Leave a Comment

Put a spark in your Saturday and spend the evening with young professionals as you explore the science behind some of your favorite spirited concoctions. Celebrate science in style as you sip signature drinks while masterful “mixologists” explore the physics, chemistry, and temperature that transforms your standard bar beverage into a classy cocktail with a scientific twist.

With a flair for fun and a passion for exploration, the Boonshoft Museum invites you to experience out-of-this-world digital technology in the Boonshoft Museum’s Science Theater, witness experiments that ignite in the DO-Lab, and meet the sometimes weird, always wild animals of the Discovery Zoo, all while mixing it up with your friends and fellow creatives.

$20 is the admission and that includes food and your first beer/wine. The menu will be provided by some of our favorite Dayton restaurants, including: Beef O’Brady’s, Lucky’s, Pizza Factory, and Dayton Racquet Club.
Featured Spirit: Bluecoat Gin

Other fine spirits:
Bak’s Bison Grass Vodka
888 Scotch
Concannon Irish Whiskey
James E Pepper Rye
Dos Lunas Tequila
Black Roberts Spiced Rum

Menu:

Lucky’s:
Tequila Chili

Dayton’s Original Pizza Factory:
Assorted Specialty Pizzas

Beef O’Brady’s:
Assorted Sandwich Wraps, Chips & Salsa

Dayton Racquet Club:
Gougeres hors d’ ouevres (cream puff filled with mascarpone)
In addition, the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery’s Associate Board will provide a Dessert Extravaganza, so be sure to bring your sweet tooth!

The Big Ragu Recaps 16 Catholic Fish Frys!

April 18, 2013 By Dayton937 2 Comments

The Big Ragu never does anything half baked (or fried in this instance). We take Food Adventures to the extreme and set the trends. Again, we bring you something original that you won’t see anywhere else, a recap of every fish fry we could find in the Miami Valley. Now, the Lenten season is over, and they last fryer has been turned off. You know the drill, all-you-can-eat fish dinners, beer, condiment tables, silent auctions, raffle tickets and casino games. So which ones rocked our gills off? Answer: They all have their appeal, and special draw, but four of them really stood out.

Ladies and Gentlemen, here are the “Sweet Sixteen,” our recap of the Dayton’s 2013 Catholic Fish Frys:

Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Favorite Fish Fry

Food Adventures jumps at any chance to support Dayton causes, and with Big Ragu being Catholic, we bought tickets to every fish fry in town. We will list our favorites aka the “FANTASTIC FOUR FISH FRYS”, then list the others in random order and what makes each fish fry special.

THE FANTASTIC FOUR FISH FRYS:

1) OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY–22 Notre Dame Ave.

This one was the grand daddy of them all and our favorite fish fry. For the past 52 years they have held fish frys, making this probably the oldest one in Dayton, This church holds fish frys from Sept – February before the Lenten season. The staff is wonderful and our friend Amy even took us on a tour of the church. A friendly cook named Joseph makes all of the delicous, homemade desserts himself. We know because we tried them all. This church has a heavy influence of Polish, Lithuainian, Hungarian, and German parishioners. These events have a loyal following of regulars like our pal Ron who drove all the way from Wilmington, Ohio to attend. The Monte Carlo was fun and food was great. We especially like the fact that the draft beer is unlimited in the 12 dollar price, along with fresh sausages, Icelandic cod. In our book, this fish fry is Dayton’s best.

Holy Trinity, Great Hospitality and Delicious Food

2) HOLY TRINITY CHURCH – 272 Bainbridge St.

This was a fish fry where everyone seemed to know each other. The crowd was small, but friendly and tight knit. The food was absolutely amazing. The cod was cooked to perfection and hand cut on site. One of the attractions is they use the Old Focke’s Meats recipe for Waldorf sausages. We enjoyed the old church located near the Oregon District, downtown. One unique part of this event is that this church offered an alcohol free family fish fry from 4pm-5:30pm for kids, then had the adult party after. Three beer tickets are given with paid admission. The atmosphere, great food and hospitality makes this one of the best fish frys in the Miami Valley.

Vic Woeste, 87 year old icon of St Mary’s Church

3) ST MARY CATHOLIC CHURCH: 310 Allen St.
Here we find the best story told at a fish fry. We sat near 87 year old Vic Woeste, an icon of the St Mary’s community who has been dealing casino games at the fish frys for the past 36 years. His entire family is involved in the church down to 3 generations. He told us he remembered a fish fry in 1960 where funds were used to buy the nuns a Ford Fairlane car who lived in the convent across the street. Oh the memories! Vic is looking forward to his 70th class reunion at Chaminade this year. He said it will be held in a telephone booth, since not many classmates are left. Vic also said he was baptized and married at St Mary’s. He recalls Father Ken Henz telling parishoners decades ago that he hatches, matches and dispatches loyal parishoners. Vic was a great man to talk to, indeed. This church group is so charitable that even the volunteers buy tickets as they enter. to help raise money for the boiler fund, beers were sold for 25cents and an extra 1 dollar donation got you a dessert. Again this event saw over 3 generations working the fish fry and over 300lbs of fish cooked and eaten.

4) CORPUS CHRISTI CHURCH – 527 Forest Ave.

The Corpus Christi Fryers Charitable Organization

This event was another fantastic fish fry for $15. It included all you want food and draft beer, we like those rules. The crowd was very friendly and it was obvious that many in attendance were close friends. This fish fry offered a healthy alternative of baked fish, along with the fried fish choices. The bustling atmosphere included 3 different dining areas. This particular fish fry has been going on for 25 years. The event is partially run by the “Corpus Christi Fryers.” They are a charitable group that donates time, manpower and money into running this event to help the church’s cause. The fish fry workers could not have been nicer, and the food was terrific. It was great to see a diverse group from all walks of life coming together for a good cause.

St Peter’s offered Onion Rings and Hot Dogs on their Saturday night Fish Fry

Here are the rest in random order, and what we loved about each Fish Fry!
ST PETER’S CHURCH – 6161 Chambersburg Rd

This event was $15 at door, and was packed. The line wrapped around the gym, but the wait was worth it. The food was delicious and the offerings were not only beer battered codfish, but onion rings, chicken wings, and huge hot dogs. What was even more amazing, is that one or two women seemed to be stocking the whole table for the hundreds of hungry people. The casino area featured unique games such as horse races. We also loved the fact that they offered Yuengling Black and Tan Beer. This was a fun and well attended event. Tip: come early and avoid the huge crowds.

The decor at St Charles’ Fish Fry was Beautiful

ST CHARLES BORROMEO – One of the area fish fry’s run by the Hecht family volunteers. The fish was hot and fresh. highlights included the fantastic Saint Patty’s day decor theme. Some people really put some hard work into those decorations. Along with the tasty fish, a few beer tickets were included in the $15 price. Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy beer was available on tap. This fish fry also offered a “pre-event” that was family friendly and where kids were allowed to attend until 6pm. The eating area was offered in the school cafeteria while the casino games were in the gym.

Cold Beer at the Carrol Fish Fry

CARROLL HIGH SCHOOL – Located at 4524 Linden Ave

This event was $16 to attend and included 5 beer tickets. The unique thing about this fish fry was the sheer choices of fish. They offered 3 kinds of fish. Choices were regular fried, Cajun fried, or baked fish. There were no fries in sight at this fish fry. Instead menu items included baked beans, cole slaw and potato salad. There was a huge choice of desserts at this event. A couple of long tables were filled with homemade pies, cakes, brownies and more. This event was steady and the environment was immaculately clean.

ST LUKE’S CHURCH – 1440 N. Fairfield Rd.

This fish fry was entirely kid friendly. The cost was 9 dollars for adults and $3.50 for children. No alcohol was served. The event was run by the Knights of Columbus a charity organization that benefits local families. The fish that was fried was cod from local distributor Foremost Seafood. There was also no gambling at this event. It was obvious that this fish fry was more about the family experience. They actually hold two fish frys, one in February and on in March. It should also be mentioned that the Ladies Auxillary made all of the desserts which were fantastic!

CHAMINADE JULIENNE HIGH SCHOOL – 505 S. Ludlow St.

Holy Angels Fish Fry Volunteers

This fish fry held at the High School, had a pretty good attendance. The fish was great and there were huge sheet cakes and brownies as well. We even saw one of the cooks bring out some nice cupcake pastries. Although a fairly new fish fry, this one is run with efficiency.

HOLY ANGELS CHURCH – 1322 Brown Street
This fish fry is in its 12th year. The volunteers Matt, Ruth, Denise, Leila were very friendly and greeted the crowds with a smile. Prices were 15 bucks at door and included soft drinks and all the beer you wanted as well. Get there early for this event, because parking is limited and you may get stuck parking across the other side of State route 48. Delicious haddock was the fried fish served to the hungry visitors. We really loved the fact that the beer was unlimited, and we didn’t have to fool around with drink tickets.

ST ALBERT THE GREAT – 104 W. Dorothy Lane

Three Generations of the Hecht/Sierschula Family helping work the St Albert Fish Fry !

This event was $15 advance or $20 at door. They served some tasty, fried Icelandic cod. Like other fish frys, they had a carryout option for 9 bucks. This event had a ton of volunteers, mostly we saw in kitchen. We saw the raw fish being thawed, cut, dredged then deep fried by the Hecht Family, who runs a few of the area fish frys. In fact we saw that there were at least 3 generations of the family at the event. this event, casino earnings and raffle money all benefited the athletics. It helps to buy uniforms and keep students cost to participate as low as possible. We were told that for 40 years this event has been held and many run by the Hecht family. Attendance price included 5 beer tickets.

ST ANTHONY’S CHURCH– 830 Bowen St.

The church was celebrating it’s 100th year anniversary in 2013. The fish fry has not been around more than a decade or 2, but the place was packed. The entrance showed off a silent auction area and the casino games. Lines formed to get the fish and the cafeteria served as the eating place. The fish was so fresh and hot, that you had to let your plate cool. the staff was working hard and feeding the hungry event attendees. It was obvious that the workers took pride in this event and made it a fun and friendly atmosphere.

ST HENRY’S CHURCH– 6696 N. Springboro Pike

Event was held in the “Father Stretch Center.” The cost at the door was 15 bucks. The head priest Father Tom was greeting the attendees in the dining area. The fish served was large pieces of fried Haddock. The volunteers were friendly and the fish was light and flaky. Some of the better fried fish around was served here. The event also featured a large silent auction area.

INCARNATION PARRISH– 55 Williamsburg Ln.

Mounds of Fish Ready for Breading at the Alter Fish Fry

This event gets packed. The crowds are big, so get there early. Like many fish frys they offer a carryout option, but with no discount. There was a large silent auction area, and many signs hung in the gymnasium featuring sponsors of the fish fry. Admission was 15 dollars and the fish served was fried Icelandic cod. Again, we saw some familiar faces of the Hecht family preparing the food for the masses. There is also a large choice of casino games at this well attended Parrish.

ALTER HIGH SCHOOL – 940 E. David Rd.

This fish fry draws the biggest crowds of all the area fish frys. Sometimes the line can be an hour wait. Our tip, get there early and plan on making an evening of it. The casino games are crowded, but there are many to choose from. There is even a high limit gambling area! Admission is 15 bucks and comes with 3 beer tickets. they have amped up the event recently by offering some craft beers for sale. This event usually has a huge silent auction, and you may even see current NY Jets Center Nick Mangold among the attendees. Again the Hecht family is responsible for the fish here, so you know you can expect big pieces of freshly cooked fish.

ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI -6245 Wilmington Pike

This was a very organized fish fry put on dozens of volunteers from the church. We liked the fact that they had baked fish as a choice as well as the typical fried fish. The dining area was crowded, so get to this one early. This was simply a beautiful church with a fun atmosphere at the fish fry.

Baked and Fried Fish at the St Francis Fish Fry

NOW YOU KNOW !

Only here, can you see the most comprehensive fish fry summary of the Miami Valley known to man. FOOD ADVENTURES has given you some pointers on what to expect in 2014 Dayton area fish frys because they ate it all! Make sure that you scroll through the photo album below featuring every single fish fry. FYI, unfortunately some of the church websites do not have the greatest information about the fish frys. For that reason, make sure you stay tuned to DaytonMostMetro.com and Dayton Dining for all the dates and times of future fish frys. The bottom line here is that each Lenten season, Daytonians should take advantage of the great events and support some local churches. The fish frys are friendly and welcome all denominations of faith. It is about fun times and good causes. Now that the all-you-can eat fish frys have ended, it is time for us to “scale” back and swim on to the next Food Adventure !

DID YOU ATTEND SOME AREA FISH FRYS? WHICH ONE WAS YOUR FAVORITE? DID WE MISS ANY ? PLEASE COMMENT BELOW !

For more Food Adventures, “like” us on Facebook by clicking HERE !

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Food Adventures Gets Cheeky With It !!!

April 12, 2013 By Dayton937 1 Comment

Cheeky Meat Pies are at Dayton’s 2nd Street Market

DaytonDining Scoop: Cheeky Meat Pies is going to move from the 2^nd Street Market to the concession areas at RiverScape MetroPark. Their contract was just approved by the board this morning. They’ll be open more days of the week and during festivals, programs and other events.

No details yet on exact hours and menus, but we’ll get that to you soon! In honor of the news, here’s a chance to revisit a Food Adventure with Cheeky Meat Pies!

Here is a little known secret for you fellow Dayton Food Adventurers. It is a place where you can get some authentic Meat Pies like the ones from New Zealand. They are a vendor at Dayton’s 2nd Street Market and the company is called Cheeky Meat Pies. They have some incredible items made from scratch! The owner of the Dayton business is a true “Kiwi,” which is slang for a native New Zealander.

The big attraction is, of course, their meat pies. You hold them and eat them like a sandwich. Each meat pie features a flaky crust, and depending on the type of pie, the fillings vary. We recommend the “Distinguished Darby” or the “Tandoori Chook” pies to fellow Food Adventurers. The Darby is filled ground beef cooked in an onion gravy, mixed with Monterey Jack cheese. It has a melt in your mouth feeling when you taste it. The Tandoori is a chopped chicken breast and potato pie with a slightly spicy Tandoori sauce. Indian flavors are popular “Down Under,” and Cheeky Meat Pies‘ twist on this pie is perfection. They also feature Veggie Pies and Breakfast Pies! Popular combos are served with a side of Roasted Kumura (sweet potato) fries. For a full menu of their meat pie offerings click HERE.

The “Distinguished Darby” Meat Pie

The next time you visit Dayton’s 2nd Street Market, make sure you grab one of these goodies to go. The owner is very friendly, and greeted us with his memorable accent. Don’t miss this “street food” taste of New Zealand, GET CHEEKY WITH IT !

Click HERE to visit our FOOD ADVENTURES page on FACEBOOK and “like” us to become and official fan!

We are not food critics, we are just 3 people that love to emotionally eat our way through Dayton!

Check out our Weekly Article Every Thursday on DaytonMostMetro.com !!

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